


Trouvaille

by FlatTeamStructure



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, One Shot, ThirteenWithAChild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22231648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlatTeamStructure/pseuds/FlatTeamStructure
Summary: The Doctor left Gallifrey with something unexpected.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Trouvaille

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! Can't really write, don't know what I'm doing here, but the idea came to me and I thought it was cute. Let me know what you think!  
> X

"Hello," A meek female voice said, immediately drawing the attention of The Doctor down to the source of the noise, bringing up her hand to discreetly wipe the tears forming in her eyes. It wasn't possible, who was this child, and how was she here? She couldn't be real, there was no way. She reached out to her expecting her hand to go straight through her, like a hologram or an illusion. But she instead felt her hand land on her shoulder, her definitely 100% real form. "Hello?" The girl tried again, revealing her yellowing teeth as she looked over at the hand on her shoulder. 

"Hi." She replied, before looking around to see if there was anyone else that could've been looking after her, any other living thing. The area was still however, only the sound of small fires still slightly burning, and she let her gaze fall back to the little girl.  
"I'm Ophelia." She said clearly, still looking up at The Doctor, like she was the most magical thing she'd ever seen.  
"How are you here Ophelia?" The Doctor replied, properly taking in her appearance. She couldn't have been older than 8 years old. Her dark hair was long but pulled back behind her ears and wet with sweat. Her short sleeved shirt exposed the dirt speckled on her arms, and she could see generally her clothes were tatty, holes showing grazes and bruises under the material.  
"I don't know." Ophelia wrapped her arms around herself, put off by The Doctor's lack of enthusiasm.  
"What do you mean you don't know? How are you here? When did you arrive? Or where you already here before... this. How did you survive is you were here before? Is it just you?" 

Ophelia took a step back as The Doctor rattled off questions, glancing around the flat ground around them. The Doctor noticed the subtle movement and took a step back, realising that in her confusion she'd scared the poor girl, her tone coming off as accusatory.  
"I'm The Doctor, it's nice to meet you Ophelia." The Doctor introduced herself, hoping to make the young child feel more comfortable.  
"Mm." Ophelia still seemed unsure despite the change in posture, her initial confident nature gone. Her little wrist watch glinting in the light, a huge crack running from one side of the glass to the other. It was then that The Doctor became conscious of the time. How long had it been since this, what ever this was, had happened.  
"Are you here alone Ophelia? Where are your parents?"  
"Gone," Ophelia looked down as she spoke. The Doctor wondered briefly if Ophelia was old enough to understand that her parent's were probably dead and hadn't voluntarily left the young child on her own.  
"I'm sorry."

"How long has it been like this?" The Doctor asked, but the shrug of the little girl's shoulders didn't help.  
"Dunno." Ophelia finally took a few steps forward, The Tardis getting the attention of the youngster. She walked past The Doctor still crouched on the ground, running her nails delicately along the blue box.  
"Do you know how old you are?" Ophelia seemed at ease as she examined the blue box, her shoulders relaxed, and her body not as tense, as though she might have to run at any point. "Seven, I think."  
"You only think? Don't you get nice presents every year?"  
"No it's been ageeeees." Ophelia paused her journey circling The Tardis, a gentle hum sounding as the ship tried to comfort the child.  
"Does anybody look after you now?"  
"Nope." 

A selfish part of her mind reprimanded her for visiting, for listening to what The Master had said, if she'd ignored him then she wouldn't be responsible for this. She could've gone on in blissful ignorance, but now she knew she couldn't leave Ophelia alone. She had a responsibility she couldn't ignore. 

"Do you want to see the inside?" The Doctor asked as Ophelia knocked on the door.  
"Is it cool?" She asked, the doctor squinted her eyes finding the question odd, until she realised the child meant the temperature. She hadn't realised how suffocating the heat was until Ophelia pointed it out but now she could feel the sweat forming on her skin, and she quickly nodded.  
"Course! Nice and chilled inside." She smiled opening the door and welcoming her in. Ophelia stood outside for a few moments before she walked in, not making any comment on the size of the ship, slightly disappointing the ship and it's pilot.  
"It's pretty." Ophelia's face was lit up in the blue lights of the console, as she looked at the buttons and levers, careful not to touch anything under The Doctor's watchful eye.  
"She says thanks. " Ophelia looked at her bottom lip out, as though she thought she was being made fun off, before turning and continuing on her exploration. 

The Doctor watched her wonder round, answering all her questions, as she tried to ignore the reality of what was on the other side of The Tardis walls. As she wondered round inspecting every inch of the room she looked more and more at ease, but The Doctor noticed she walked with a slight limp, her left leg dragging slightly behind her right.  
"Have you hurt your leg?"  
"Mmm, I only wanted to try and find some food." The Doctor leaned back against the wall as she took in the words, how the child had survived she had no idea, and she found herself at a loss for words. She noticed though that The Tardis picked up on this letting out a hum and purple lights lit up in a path from the child to the console, right to the custard cream dispenser, giving her a gentle nudge. "Do you wanna see something?" She asked her standing back until Ophelia nodded, she didn't want to scare her again, not when she seemed to be coming back out of her shell.  
"Press this down." She instructed, Ophelia doing so without hesitation and watching with amazement as the biscuit fell out in front of her. She looked to The Doctor first though as if to get permission to take it,  
"Eat it, it's tasty, promise!" The Doctor assured her observing as she picked it up, snapping it in half and offering one side out to her.  
"It's all yours, and you can have as many as you want." She smiled at her. This was a child who'd been on her own for so long, who'd been injured searching for food, but was still willing to share with a stranger.  
"Once you've had a few, do you mind if I take you to the med bay? It's nothing scary, I promise. I just want to see if I can fix that leg of yours." Ophelia considered that for a few seconds looking between her and the biscuit before agreeing, The Doctor suspected only because she wanted more food, but it was a start.  
"Come on then, eat up!" She smiled, dispensing another few biscuits and offering them over to the youngster.

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's a bit dialogue heavy but it just kind of came to me that way and I didn't want to rewrite it. Haven't read through it, so let me know if there's any mistakes!  
> X


End file.
